A few days ago, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) surprised everyone by wanting to introduce a kind of “privilege pass” for vaccinated people. At the EU level, there was definitely approval for this and, most recently, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) said that such a solution must come and that discrimination against unvaccinated persons also appears realistic. But how do travelers actually feel about the proposals?

The Austrian portal Urlaubguru carried out a survey and according to managing director Daniel Frick it showed that the desire to travel is very high this year. However, 73 percent of the 1.800 respondents could not get used to the fact that vacations should only be possible with vaccinations.

The main argument cited is the freedom to choose whether to be vaccinated. The decision should not automatically lead to restrictions. Around 33 percent of those questioned would be vaccinated in order to be able to visit countries with possible vaccination regulations for entry. When asked whether you would wait to travel until you had your own vaccination, 72 percent of the participants answered no. Only 21 percent can imagine waiting for the next trip after the full vaccination. About 7 percent are undecided. 

And would it be okay if people who have already been vaccinated are allowed to travel again while one is still waiting for the vaccination? The answer is clear. Around 68 percent do not want those who have already been vaccinated to enjoy different travel privileges than those who have not been vaccinated. The respondents also speak out against travel privileges for domestic travel. Almost three quarters of those surveyed are of the opinion that hotels should also receive unvaccinated guests.

Progress in vaccination in holiday countries is not decisive for travel plans 

Not only your own vaccination can protect against infection with the coronavirus abroad. The progress of vaccination among the population in the holiday country can also have an impact on this. Nevertheless, a good two thirds of those surveyed do not make their travel plans dependent on it (69 percent). Just under a quarter (23 percent) would prefer a travel destination where more than half of the population has already been vaccinated. 8 percent do not yet have an opinion. 

An identical survey was carried out from a total of 7500 participants in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands. The participants from Spain and the Netherlands are much more accommodating. In comparison, Spaniards (80 percent) and Dutch (66 percent) would be more likely to get vaccinated in order to be able to enter countries with strict vaccination regulations. In addition, 47 percent of respondents in the Netherlands and 53 percent of respondents in Spain would wait for their vaccination before they travel again.

In Austria it was only around 21 percent of the respondents. Participants from Spain and the Netherlands also give greater weight to vaccination progress in the population of possible travel countries. For example, 63 percent of the Spanish respondents and 52 percent of the Dutch respondents would prefer a travel destination where 50 percent or more of the population have already been vaccinated. In Germany and Switzerland, the respondents share the same opinion as the Austrians.